Wide throat press



July 16; 1957 c. A; VAN DUSEN' ETAL 2,799,

WIDE THROAT PRESS 5-Sheets-Shee'r. 1

Filed Feb. 27. less In g 3- In t wr 1- 0 0' RI 3 LL. 0 8| ml m n va" Q IINVENTORS v July 16, 1957 I c. A. VAN DUSEN ETAL 2 ,1

\WIDE THROAT PRESS Filed Feb. 27, 1953 s Sheets-Shee t 2 FIG.2

- INVENTORS. m y

July 16, 1957 c. A. VAN DUS'EN El'AL- WIDE THROAT PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed Feb. 27, 1953 INVENTORS y 1957 c. AQ AN Dus f ETAL 2,799,187 4WIDE THROAT PRESS Filed Fb. 27. 195:5 A 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 United. StatesPatent WIDE THROAT PRESS Charles'AvVan Duseng Escondido; Califi;andRichard F. WittenmyeLCleveland, .and J'ohn vA. Richter, Galion,01110," assignors to Throatless 'Pr'ess- Company Application February27', 1953'; Serial-No. 33:9;324"

."aClaims'. (Cl; 78-42) v invention relates'in general to large capacitywide throat presses and more particularly to presses using a structuralmass, such as .r'e'infbrced concrete as a dead weight resisting the"force of' the press mechanism in a pres's'coristru'ction which hasthepre'ss components within a large area so" that the press is'e'ssehtiallly throatless.

Lar-ge' capacity presses have been limited by the si'zeof the" componentparts. Typical press constructionutilizes strain" rodsor' tie rods whichmust be of high strength steel to withstand the force of the press andto hold togather the top and bottom of the press. These tie rods rapidlyget up to 48'ijr1 che's in diameter and 100 feet in length for even a;35,000 ton capacity'press. Such large sized steel components takelargesized foundry and machinery capacity just to make the parts" of thepress. Further, in order to Withstand the force of the press,

more tharl four tie rods are generally used, such as 6, 8,;

; 12-, or more. Since the pressplatens are generally rectangular, thismeans that only the ends of the press are left open; and the partto' beforged in the press must be inserted and: manipulated through the endsof thepress. In diefor girigand die quenching especially it iso'f thentmost-impoftaiice that the forging be brought to" a proper temperaturein a heating oven and then quickly moved to the" forging press before itcools beyond the point where; the art can be press forged at thep'ropertemperature: As p-r'es'ses grow larger, the heating and conveyingfacilities also grow larger, and this" necessarily means an increase intime to get the large and cumbersome part from the oven to the forgingpress. In conventional forging'press construction the fact that the tierods obstruct at least the corners of the press platen seriouslyinterferes 'with the ease of manipulation and handling the part to beforged. In order to build 50000 or 75,000 tons capacity forging presses,the roblems inherent'inmaking a forging press alon'gconventio'nal linesbecome almost insurmountable.

The tie rods alsopresent space limitations in forming presseswherein-rubber pads or a liquid backed diaphragm is used as the femaledie. In such case the rubber pad mustbe encased in a' steel housing inorder to'retain' it. If this casing is made rectangular rather thancircular, the side Walls of the casing must be strong enough to res'ista bending force rather than merely a tension force. A rectangular casingmust be used in conventional presses in order to efiicien'tly use thearea inside" the rectangularly spaced tie rods.

An object or the invention is to provide a wide throatpress.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. press having a 360degree access in the horizontal plane to the dies and platens of a pressin order to have a maximum ice Anotherobject of, the invention is to.provide apress wherein the force of'the press, is resisted by a largeand thick structural; mass such as reinforced concrete whichhas'sufiicient bulk to be rigid, utilizing the inherentstrength of thetotal. weight of the mass to obtain maximum span or widethroat-of thepress frame consistent with allowable deflection in consideration of'thework to be performed by such presses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a large cap acity presscontained inside a monolithic-concrete frame wherein the weight of'th'eupper portion of. the frame plus the weight ofq'the'upper components ofthe press proper, its pumps and .otherauxiliarie's, ismorethansufljcient to resist the force "exerted by the'press;

Another object' of theinvention is to provide. .a press frameconstruction which" is earthquake and bomb resistant:

Another" object' of the invention is to provide. a press with the pumpsandmotors; reservoirs andiother necessary auxiliaries for operating thepress located on the top of the'pres's to achieve short lengths of fluidpipinggand to add-to the weight available to resist the force of thepress.

Another object-ofthe invention is toprovide-a hydraulic press whereinaccumulator bottlesare mounted on the side of the-presst'o achieve shortlengths of piping to the working parts of the press.

Another'objeet' of 'the'invention is toprovide a structural mass havingsufiicient weight to resist the force of a plurality ofpresses-l'ocated'underneath the mass and which entire press mayhave'the capacity thereofincreased by adding to the weight of the mass by increasing any of thethree dimensions of the mass'. v V

Another object of the invention is to provide a multiple pressconstruction wherein two or more presses are mounted" inside a frame forsimultaneous: or inarticulated operation.

Anothen object of the invention is to -provide a multiple pressconstruction wherein two or more presses are mountedinside a frametogether with control meansinterlocking the. presses to preventsimultaneous closing of any two of these presses.

Another object of the invention is to provide a press constructionwherein the: crown hydraulic cylinders and upper. platen of: the:pressas a unit are dependently carried Tby a1 structural mass andWiththis structural mass havingra thicknesssnfiicient to berigid toadequately'resist allfforces placed; thereon by nonsymmetrical loads inthe press.

, Another objectof'the invention is toprovide a structural memberorsmembersof large area supporting the upper and'lower portions ofiapress, theplatensof'which are of relatively small area so that largeeccentricities in loading. on the platens create only smalleccentricities 'of loading. on the large structural member or members;

Another object of the invention is to provide a forging press of widethroat design sothat. there is complete freedom of access to the diecarried. by. thepress platens; and hence, billets may beheated'in' afurnace and quickly conveyed and manipulated into the dies beforethefbillet or part has cooled below forging range of" temperature.

Another object of the invention is to provide awide throat press'whichmaybe used with rubber pads, fluid backedidia'phragms orbag-typediaphragms as the female die sothatfthef container housing the rubberpad ormedia may be circular or other section of symmetry in cross--section so'that the walls thereof will need to resist forces essentiallyin. tension, which container will thus: not interare provided for eachsection and wherein cables or rods may be used to raise individualsections and then the cables fastened in place to maintain the sectionson the underside of the upper structural member of the press.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method' to accomplishoperations such as braking, coining or any other particular method ormethods. Another object of the invention is to provide for umformdistribution of load from the press cylinders to the frame avoiding thehigh concentration of stress encountered in conventional presses atpoints of attachment of the various components to the strain rods.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the press constructed according tothis invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the press;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the press;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the press with the gantry crane and roofremoved;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 6,showing the press and associated buildings; and

Figure 6 is an elevational sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 show the construction of the press; and thispress has a frame 11 which generally comprises a bottom slab 12, sidewalls 13 and 14, and a top slab 15. In this embodiment the entire frame11 is made from concrete. The base 12 would have dimensions andthickness sufl'icient to stand the bearing load for the soil or rock onwhich it rested. The top slab 15 has a horizontal lower surface 16 and ahorizontal upper surface 17. The press frame 11 houses first, second,and third presses 21, 22, and 23. The second press is the largest and isused as a forging press, whereas the first press 21 is used as a coggingor blocking press, and the third press 23 is used as a trimming press.The second press 22 has a lower platen 25 made up by a plurality ofsections 26. This second press 22 has a head member or crown 27 alsomade up of a plurality of sections 28. Hydraulic cylinder motors 29 aredependently carried by the crown 27. Two cylinder motors are carried byeach crown section 28. Each cylinder motor 29 has a cylinder 30 and apiston 31. The hydraulic cylinder motors 29 are those which urgedownwardly an upper platen 32. This upper platen 32 is composed of aplurality of sections 33. Pullback or push-back cylinder motors 34 areused to raise the upper platen 32. The upper platen 32 carries an upperdie 35, and the lower platen 25 carries a lower die 36.

The first press 21 which is used as a cogging press is considerablysmaller and is otherwise constructed in a manner similar to the secondpress 22. The third press 23, used as a trimming press, may be somewhatlarger than the cogging press but also is constructed in a mannersimilar to the second press 22.

Rails 40 are provided in the floor 41 which is the upper causingfailure.

the lower die 36 for convenience of workmen, and a control station 45 isprovided for the press operator.

The horizontal upper surface 17 of the top slab 15 provides a floor andsupporting surface for many of the working components of the press.Electric motors 49 are used to drive hydraulic pumps 50 to pump liquidsuch as water, oil, or other fluid from an intake line 51 to a pumpoutlet line 52. The outlets of the pumps would go to a mamfold 53, andselector valves 54 would control the flow of fluid to the hydrauliccylinder motors in each of the presses 21, 22, and 23. Interior or otherarrangement of piping 55 connects the valves 54 with presses 21, 22, and23. A plurality of accumulator bottles 56 are mounted on shelves 57 onthe outside walls of the press frame 11. Interior or other arrangementof piping 58 innerconnects the accumulators 56 and the presses 21, 22,and 23. Tanks 59 mounted on the top slab are used as storage forrefilling the accumulators 56. Compressors 60 driven by electric motors61 are used to compress the air or other gaseous fluid in the top of theaccumulators 56.

Control means 62, diagrammatically shown in Figure 3, are available atthe control station 45 to control the presses 21, 22, and 23 to preventsimultaneous closing of the second press 22 and either or both of thepresses 21 or 23. This control means would permit simultaneous operationof all presses, but when the second press 22 is operating at maximumforce, neither press 21 nor 23 may operate to exceed the totalcapacities of the system and the frame. This assures that the forceexerted by the presses will not exceed the allowable safe limit set bythe total maximum weight of the top slab 15 together with units mountedthereon.

Rails 64 are mounted in the upper surface 17 and a gantry crane 65 rideson these rails. Buildings 66 are used to house the motors, pumps, andcompressors; and these buildings 66 have roofs 67 which may be liftedoff by the gantry crane so that component parts may be lifted into andout of the buildings 66 by this gantry crane. Further, the gantry cranehas a cantilever extension 68 on each end so that the gantry crane mayservice the accumulators 56. Thus, the gantry crane 68 may be used inthe erection as well as the maintenance of the entire press.

The top slab has reinforcing steel 70 which extends through the bottomof the slab near the lower surface thereof. This reinforcing steel 70extends in two directions and is placed under tension and locked intothe concrete so that the lower portion of the top slab is prestressed incompression in two generally perpendicular directions in the horizontalplane.

The top slab is thus prestressed in compression at least at a centralarea of this top slab so that the concrete slab will be able to take thevarious loads from the crown 27. Reinforcing steel 71 also extendsthrough the top slab 15 near the upper surface thereof and is placed intension force to thus prestress this upper portion of the top slab incompression in two generally perpendicular directions in the horizontalplane. This prestressing in compression of the concrete in the top slabenables the concrete to withstand a greater force from the presses 21,22, and 23; and it will thus be able to withstand forces, in directionstransverse to the slab, greater than those normally The bottom slab 12is similarly prestressed in compression near the top and bottom thereofby reinforcing steel 72 and 73.

The top slab may be approximately 50 feet thick, or even feet thick,feet wide, and 120 feet long. The side walls may be 20 feet thick, 50feet high, and 120 feet long. The bottom slab may be 30 feet thick, 120feet long, and feet wide. The top slab with all accessory eqlpmentincluding pumps, compressors, electric motors,

crowns, hydraulic cylinder motors, and upper platens would thus weighabout 100,000 tons for a maximum force of 75,000 tons of the secondpress 22. The maximum force of the press 22 is thus about 75 percent ofthe total weight of the top slab and units thereon. The first press 21may have' a capacity'of only" 5,000 tons and the third press 23, 30,000tons as an example; v

The presses 21, 22, and 23'rnaybe"assmbl'ejd in a'n'ovel manner.Thefcrown 27 ha's been showh as being in five sections 28. Ten hydrauhc'cylinder motors '29 have been shown with two cylinder motors persectioniThe upper platen 32 hasals'o been shown as b'eing composedof'fivesections 33'. A crown section" 28', two" cylinder motors 29, ar1d anupper platen section 33'rriaybe assembled tog'ether as a unit on thefloor 41,; Similarly, four additional units may beassembled; These"units when in place are supported by rods 01 cables 75. The cables runvertically through apertures in the topi slab' 15and' ar'fastenedby'suitable fastening means 76 near the up'pe'r surface 17. The aperturesma -barbarian in any suitable manner, such as by casting pipes into thetop" slab as it is formed. Winches 77 carrying additional lengths ofcable may b'e plalcied in position ori'the upper surface 17. The cableson the winches may be payed out and run down through apertures in thetop slab 15. The'cables on the winches ,may then be fastened to thecables" 75 which are attached to the first. unit. The winches may thenreel in the cables untilthefirstunit is in position with the uppersurface 78 of the crown section 28 against the lower surface 16 of thetop"sl ab15. Cement grout, lead or; other suitable material may be -usedto obtain an even distribution of load between the crown 27 and the topslab 15. Thecables75'm'ay' be fastened by the fastening rneans Z6 to thetop slab 15, and then the winches moved laterally to repeat a similarfunction in raisihg the additional assembled unit s. Tierods 79 may thenbe run through the crown units and theplat en units, and nuts 80threaded thereon to fasten together the crown sections and platensections as a composite unit.

The Figures and 6 show the complete facilities used with the forgingpress wherein the frame 11 is positioned between a building 83 and abuilding 84. The building 83 has a railroad car siding 85, a receivingdock 86, a stock storage area 87, and a die storage area 88. Reheatfurnaces 89 have rolls 90 at the ends thereof for conveying billets intoand out of these furnaces. Live rolls 91 are aligned with the threepresses 21, 22, and 23 and are used to convey the billets to a positionnear the cogging press 21. Preheat furnaces 92 are also provided in thebuilding 83, and rolls 93 connect the ends of these furnaces to the liverolls 91. A die carriage 94 operates from the die storage area 88 to aposition alongside the presses 21, 22, and 23 in order to move the upperand lower dies into and out of position in the presses.

The building 84 contains furnace and quench pits 95, a machining area96, and a shipping dock 97 adjacent a railroad siding 98.

Operation The floor area of the press frame 11 is 80 feet by 120 feet.The area of the platen of the second press 22 may be 12 by 40 feet. Thisis long enough to forge wing spars or long sections of wings ofaircraft, or other large forged parts. In conventional pressconstructions the tie rods become larger and more bothersome as the sizeof the press increases. A capacity of 18,000 tons is the largestconventional forging press in operation in this country. The Germansalso produced one press of 33,000 ton capacity built along conventionallines. The tie rods which are very closely adjacent the platens inconventional presses are approximately 50 inches in diameter and 74 feetlong on a proposed conventional structure press of 35,000 ton capacity.Eight of these tie rod forgings are required, and each forging weighs 74tons. The foundry and machining capacity necessary to make theindividual components of the press of the instant invention is availablein this country since each of the press units is relatively small. Noheavy tie rods and upper and lower cross members are needed since theseare all provided by the concrete frame 11. In the press of the instantinvention there are no tie rodsin thew'ay and 'thus billets andforging's may' be quicklyimoved from the furnaces89'and 92 tothe'presses 21, 22,a nd2" 31 Aspresse's become'larger, theconveyio'r' rolls"9 0"'and' 9 1'becor'neilarg'er, also the furnaces89 and 92'becomelarger. This means that the distance fronifurnac'e" to'press not onlybecomes greater, but since the billet or forging is bigger andheavier,it is more diflicultto" move itbe'tween' the furnace and pressatthesarrierate of speed. This all adds up to considerably increasedtime in' moving the billet or forging between the furnace and press. Powered'for'ging manipulators 'have beenu'sed' before; but they'have'always had to maheuve'r'the forgingjinto the-end of the press orinto-the side of thepr'essi' With-aproposed;35,000 ton press ofconventional construction; since eight'tie rods' are being used, bothsides of the press are closedand hence nonaccessible. 7 This means that"all" work must be done from the two relatively smalli pea ends ofthe'pre'ss: This increases the difiiculty of maneuvering fo'rjgi'ngs'and very materially increases the likelihood that the forging will cooldown to a point where'it can no longer be worked satisfactorily. g

With theiar'ea of the plate'n of th'e second press 22 being 12 by40'fe'et arid with the first and third presses being smaller'than this,this assures'that there will be a clear space around ea ch of thepres'sesat least equal to the width of the'platerr 25 of the second resszz. The absence of'tierods is also 'o'f pi iine' consideration in theuseof the ie -quen'chingwhereinthepart being formed is z'ed in the' d suntil the part isq'uenched or cooled s'iifii' cien'tly to retain aper'maneht' set and shape. Here t l-l" en'ipeiat'ur'e must 'ohtr'olledvery closely; and he cemae rdiieea fineness furnaceto'press achieved byelimination of tie rods is a very important consideration.

Where the presses used in the frame 11 are used for sheet or plateforming or drawing, a rubber pad, fluidbacked diaphragm, or bag-typediaphragm may be used as the female die in this forming or drawingprocess. In such case the rubber pad or diaphragm must be encased in acontainer to resist the outward force of the fluid or rubber. There havebeen explosions of such containers since such containers are generallyrectangular in order to utilize to the greatest practical extent therectangular area between the tie rods on conventionally constructedpresses. In the present invention the rubber pads, fluidbackeddiaphragms, or bag-type diaphragms may be encased in a container ofcircular cross-section so that the walls of the container need onlyresist tension force rather than bending force as well. This increasesthe safety of the press, increases its usefulness, and decreases theweight carried by the upper platen for faster operation of the press.

The weight of the top slab may be increased in order to increase thecapacity of the press. For instance, large capacity presses may beinstalled inside the frame 11, and thus the total weight of the top slabmay be increased simply by increasing any of the three dimensions ofthis top slab 15. This is impossible with presses built alongconventional lines.

The top slab is quite thick relative to the vertical dimension of thecrown 27, cylinder motors 29, and upper platen 32. This top slab 15 is astructural mass since it is reinforced concrete, and being thick, it isvery rigid. This rigidity successfully resists eccentric or nonsymmetrical loads. The platen being 12 by 40 feet may have the center ofthe applied load two or four feet off the geometric center of theseplatens, yet this two or four foot eccentricity will mean very little inthe total dimension of the upper slab which is feet square. This isanother advantage of having the top slab 15 of large area as opposed topresses of conventional construction wherein eccentric loads are veryserious and impose severe stresses on the tie rods. The concrete frame11 is not only the frame of the presses, but it is also the buildingwhich houses the presses since it makes a weatherproof structure forthese presses. The thick concrete top slab 15 provides a bomb resistantshelter for the presses. Further, the mass of the entire concrete frameis earthquake resistant, and thus several additional advantages aregained by the use of the monolithic concrete structure for thesepresses.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with acertain degree of particularity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A wide-throat press comprising a frame having a base, laterallyspaced supports and a top slab, said top slab being a substantiallymonolithic structural means supported by and extending between saidspaced supports and spaced above said base, said frame defining anopening, a downwardly facing lower surface on said top slab within saidopening, a lower platen on said base, a crown structure supported bysaid slab and abutting said lower surface of said top slab, an upperplaten carried by said crown structure, mechanism for relativelyriciprocating said platens into and out of engagement, the lateraldimensions of said platens being substantially less than the lateralspacing between said supports to thus establish a widethroat press witha large, clear working area for workmen and equipment between saidplatens and said supports and within said opening, the weight of saidtop slab, crown structure and upper platen exceeding the totalforce-exerting capabilities of said mechanism to maintain said laterallyspaced supports in compression when maximum force of said mechanism isattained, said top slab having sufficient contained structural strengthto act also as a rigid beam to carry the weight thereof between saidsupports.

2. A press according to claim 1, including reinforcing members extendinghorizontally in said top slab in tension for prestressing said top slabin compression.

3. A press according to claim 1, having a plurality of crown structuresand upper and lower platens a trackway in said opening extending betweensaid press units and said supports and adjacent said plurality of saidpress units whereby a work manipulator may be moved therealong to movework successively from one press unit to an adjacent press unit withoutinterference from said supports.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS749,049 Foy Jan. 5, 1904 807,312 Patterson Dec. 12, 1905 1,907,083Meyercord et a1. May 2, 1933 1,999,249 Meyercord et al Apr. 30, 1935FOREIGN PATENTS 807,056 Germany June 25, 1951 OTHER REFERENCESEngineering News-Record, Mar. 18, 1948, vol. 140.

The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 30, 1952, p. 3.

The Modern Industrial Press, February 1953, vol. XV, No. 2, pp. 56 and58.

